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Japanese

Vegan Sushi

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Buddhist Chef

  • 1 1/2 cup sushi rice

  • 3 sheets nori

  • 1 sliced avocado

  • Julienned carrots (or grated)

  • Cucumber slices

  • 3 Tbs vegan mayo

  • 1 tsp Sriracha sauce

  • 1 tsp maple syrup

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Mix vegan mayo, Sriracha and maple syrup, set aside. 

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Lay nori sheet on a sushi roll mat. Moisten hands and spread rice across 3/4 of the nori. Arrange veggies and a tablespoon of the sauce. Roll the bamboo map slowly and compress firmly to make the sushi roll. Cut into rolls with a moistened knife.

 

Serve with pickled ginger a side bowl of soy sauce for dipping.

 

Vegan Ramen Noodles

 

Ingredients​:

  • 5 dried shitake mushrooms soaked in 1 cup water (reserve water)

  • 1 small onion sliced

  • 2-3 inch piece ginger diced

  • 5 garlic cloves diced

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

  • 1 cup reserved mushroom water

  • 4 cups water plus 4 tsp homemade veggie stock powder

  • 2 generous tbs tamari

  • 1-2 tbs miso

  • Cooked ramen or soba noodles

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Heat sesame oil, add onion, ginger, garlic and saute on medium high heat for 5 minutes until slightly browned. Add mushrooms. Add reserved liquid from mushrooms. Add 4 cups water plus veggie stock powder. Reduce to low heat and cook for 45 minutes to let flavors blend. Add miso paste just before serving. Strain broth if desired or serve as is. Place noodles in a bowl, add broth and then toppings.

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Serve with:

Miso Glazed Bok Choy

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  • 1 carrot sliced on an angle

  • 2 large heads bok choy

  • 1 tbs tamari

  • 1 tbs honey or maple syrup

  • 1 tbs red miso

  • 1 tsp rice vinegar

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

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Whisk sauce ingredients. Coat veggies in a bowl and pour into a heated skillet. Sear on medium high heat.

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Henry's Vegan Ramen

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  • 1 strip kombu

  • 2 tablespoons miso 

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

  • 4 garlic cloves

  • 3 inch piece ginger

  • 1 tsp tamari

  • Firm tofu

  • Mustard seed caviar

  • Lime juice

  • More tamari

  • Ramen or soba noodles

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I learned this recipe while working in London. I lived in a huge flat with 6 other co-workers. We made meals together and invited co-workers for dinner parties. Henry's vegan ramen was always a hit. This is how I discovered mustard caviar.

 

Simmer kombu - don't let it boil - 5 to 10 mins. Remove. Add miso - a generous teaspoon per person. Finely chop ginger, garlic. Slice and fry firm tofu. Splash a high quality tamari soy sauce on at the end and fry for ten more seconds - so crisp, but not burnt (otherwise it goes bitter). Add soy sauce and lime juice to taste to the broth. Add noodles, chili, whatever else to broth and serve. Enjoy.

 

Note: Bonito (powdered) adds an extra dimension. I didn't use to keep it all vegan. Serve with a spoonful of mustard seed caviar.

Wakame Salad

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  • Handful of dried wakame (serves two)

  • 1 tablespoon tamari

  • 1 teaspoon honey

  • Dash of rice vinegar (optional)

  • Toasted sesame seeds to garnish

 

Soak the wakame for 5 minutes, then drain. Mix together tamari, honey and vinegar and then mix with wakame. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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Serve with baked tofu steaks and spicy bean sprouts. Also great with daikon patties. Always great with vegan sushi.

Savory Baked Tofu Steaks

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  • 12 ounces firm tofu, pressed

  • 2 tablespoons tamari 

  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil

  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon homemade ginger turmeric paste

  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 

  •  sliced green onions 

 

Fresh tofu is best and is easy to find in Hawaii. Press tofu for about 20 minutes. I use a flour sack towel to wrap the tofu, then press with a cast iron pan. Slice into steaks. Pour on marinade and let sit for 20 minutes or longer. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Serve with sesame seeds.

Shitake Daikon

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  • 2 Tablespoons avocado oil​

  • 1 1/2 cup daikon radish sliced into matchsticks

  • 5 shiitake mushrooms soaked for 20 minutes, drain and squeeze excess water, slice thinly, discard the stems

 

Sauce:

  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

  • 1/4 cup chopped scallion 

  • 2 garlic cloves chopped

  • 2 Tablespoons tamari

  • 1 Tablespoon sesame oil

  • 1 teaspoon honey

  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

 

Mix together the sauce ingredients. Heat the avocado oil on medium high heat, add daikon and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes on medium high heat stirring often. Add sauce and cook for another five minutes.

Miso Glazed Eggplant - Nasu Dengaku

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  • 2 globe eggplants, cut into 1 inch slices or 3 Japanese eggplants sliced in half lengthwise and slit down the center to allow the sauce to soak in

  • 2 tbsp avocado oil

  • sea salt, to taste

 

Miso glaze:

  • 2 tbsp white or red miso

  • 1 tbsp sugar (honey)

  • 2 tbsp mirin

  • 1 tbsp sake

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

 

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Optional - salt the eggplant to remove some of the bitterness, then rinse and pat dry. Bruch the eggplant with avocado oil and bake for 20 minutes.

 

Mix together the miso glaze ingredients and pour over the roasted eggplant, tossing it on the tray to coat well. Coat the cooked eggplant and increase oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes, or until the miso sauce starts to caramelize.

 

Serve with green onions and sesame seeds.

Daikon Patties

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  • 2 cups of daikon, peeled and grated

  • 1/2 cup of spring onions, finely sliced

  • 1 teaspoon of sesame oil 

  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

  • 1 tablespoon flax powder

  • 1 teaspoon ginger/turmeric paste

  • 2 tablespoons peanuts crushed

  • 2 tablespoons brown rice flour 

  • 1/4 cup coarsely ground oats

 

Peel and grate the radish and place in a strainer to drain. Prepare other ingredients and then grab handfuls of daikon and squeeze the water out of it. Mix with the other ingredients and form into small balls, then flatten into patties. Press each pattie down into the ground oats flour. Heat some oil in a large  pan and cook the patties for a few minutes on each side until they are a golden brown.

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*Note: If you are going to bake the patties, then mix the ground oats into the patties. 

Kinpira Gobo

 

The Spruce

  • 1 Tbs coconut oil

  • 4 gobo roots (burdock root)

  • 1 carrot, peeled and cut into short and thin strips

  • 1 Tbsp mirin

  • 1/2 Tbsp sugar

  • 1/2 Tbsp sake

  • 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

  • 1 tsp sesame seeds

 

Peel the gobo ( the traditional method is to scrape the skin off with the back of kitchen knife - Sasagaki, between shaved and sliced). Then slice thin strips so that each piece is about 2 inch length. Soak the gobo strips in water with a dash of vinegar. Change the water several times until it is clean. Leave the gobo in the water until you are ready to cook. Cut the carrot into matchbox strips. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook fry gobo for a couple minutes. Add carrot strips in the pan and stir-fry them. Add sake, mirin, and sugar and stir-fry until the liquid is gone. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Broccoli Gomaae

 

Just One Cookbook

  • 1 large head broccoli

  • pinch Kosher salt

  • 3 Tbsp white sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)

  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce

  • 1 Tbsp sugar

 

Steam the broccoli. Add the sesame seeds in a frying pan and toast until a few start popping, about 1 and half minute. Toss the frying pan while toasting so sesame seeds won’t get burnt. Grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle if you have one. Add sugar and soy sauce to crushed sesame seed and mix well. Mix with broccoli and serve.

Spicy Bean Sprouts

 

Just One Cookbook

  • 12 oz bean sprouts 

  • 1 Tbsp white and/or black sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)

  • Green onion/scallion (chopped, for garnish, optional)

  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil

  • 1½ tsp soy sauce

  • 1½ tsp Shichimi Togarashi Japanese seven spice (substituted a diced jalapeño)

  • ½ tsp Himalayan sea salt 

  • Freshly ground black pepper 

 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add bean sprouts to cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain. Combine all the seasonings in a large bowl. Add the bean sprouts and mix well together. Sprinkle sesame seeds. Garnish with scallion, or shiso leaf (since I have that in my garden).

Sushi Rice

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  • 1 cup sushi or short grain rice

  • 1 1/2 cups water

  • 1 tablespoons rice vinegar

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp honey 

  • 1 shiso leaf (optional)

 

Rinse the rice and place in a saucepan with water, bring to a boil. Stir, cover, add shiso leaf, reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed.

Cucumber Salad

 

Food.com

  • 2 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

  • 1⁄2-1teaspoon salt (omitted)

  • 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

  • 1tablespoon sugar (or slightly less honey)

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (tamari)

  • 1⁄4 cup rice wine vinegar

  • 1teaspoon sesame oil

  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

 

If using English or regular cucumbers, they need to be peeled, cut lengthwise, seeded and sliced into thin half moons.

In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, salt and pepper, mix well.

Add sugar (or honey), soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and mix well.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and mix.

Let marinate for 20 minutes before serving.

Kabocha No Toroni

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  • 1 kabocha squash

  • 1 Tbs honey

  • 1/4 cup mirin 

  • 1/4 cup tamari

  • one sheet of nori - lightly toasted over gas burner and crushed into small flakes and sprinkled on top

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Cut the squash in half and remove seeds.  You can double the recipe if you want to use the entire squash. Peel off patches of skin to create a marbled effect if desired.  Cut into 2 inch cubes. In a large pan add water, sugar, mirin and tamari. Bring to a boil. Add squash and return to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer until just tender (al dente) for approximately 10 minutes (cooking time depends upon the size of the cubed squash).  Check doneness with a thin knife, don’t over cook! Remove the squash to a serving bowl, reduce the sauce a bit then drizzle it on the kabocha just before serving and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds.

Adapted from My Lilikoi Kitchen

Noodles with Simple Sauce

  • 1/4 c mirin

  • 1/4 c tamari

  • 1/4 toasted sesame oil

  • 1 heaping tsp Sriracha sauce

  • 2 tbs grated ginger

  • 3 garlic cloves

  • Soba or udon noodles

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Additions:

  • Grated green papaya

  • Grated carrots

  • Spinach, bok choy, nappa cabbage

  • 8 oz extra firm tofu, pressed and baked

  • 1 tbs black sesame seeds


Combine sauce ingredients, cook noodles, chop veggies, bake tofu.

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For baked tofu - press the tofu between two plates with a cast iron pan on top to press out liquid (an hour or more if possible). Cut tofu into cubes and bake. Don't add oil or sauce or marinade as it will keep the tofu juicy. You want the tofu to be firm, not watery.

Soba, Bok Choy & Tofu

 

  • 1/4 c mirin

  • 2 tbs tamari

  • 2 tbs honey

  • 1/4 water

  • 1 tsp Sriracha sauce

  • 2 tbs grated ginger

  • 3 garlic cloves

  • 2 tbs oil

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  • 4 heads bok choy halved or quartered lengthwise

  • 8 oz extra firm tofu

  • 1 tbs black sesame seeds

 

  • 4 oz cooked soba or udon


Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Heat oil medium high and cook bok choy until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add sauce and bring to boil, cook for two minutes. Add tofu and heat through. Pour over soba noodles and garnish with sesame seeds.

Sukiyaki

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  • 8 oz udon or soba noodles

  • 4 ounces daikon sliced in thin rounds

  • 1 tbs vegetable oil

  • 1 block tofu

  • 2 small leeks

  • 6 oz mushrooms

  • 1 scant tbs honey

  • 1/4 c sake

  • 1 tbs mirin

  • 1/2 c tamari

  • 2 c watercress sprigs

 

Boil the daikon for a few minutes until just tender and reserve the water. Saute the tofu, set aside daikon and tofu. Saute the leeks and mushrooms. Add honey and mix. Add sake, tamari, mirin and bring to a boil. Add 2 cups of reserved daikon water. Stir in watercress and cooked noodles. Add the tofu and daikon. Serve.

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